LONDON- World stocks fell on Tuesday as investors fretting about an anemic global recovery dumped risky assets and fled into government debt and other safe-haven assets including the yen, which hit a 15-year high against the dollar. Recent data, particularly from the United States, have shown signs of fatigue in the global economy despite the extension of accommodative policy measures in most countries. Comments from a Bank of England policymaker that the UK risked sliding back into recession added to broader risk aversion, sending investors scrambling into government debt, driving 10-year British bond yields near record lows and 30-year German bond yields to all-time troughs. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Major European shares shed more than 1 percent, and futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.4 per cent by 0747 GMT (3:47 a.m. EDT), pointing to a lower start on Wall Street. "If the US housing data today is weak, that could take the market down," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management. "In light volumes, it's reacting to every bit of news, and the next economic news could be bad. M&A news has had a disproportionate effect." Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) fell 1.3 per cent, dipping below the closely watched 9,000 mark for the first time in 15 months, pressured by selling from hedge funds and foreigners. The MSCI world equity index (.MIWD00000PUS) fell 0.7 per cent to retest one-month lows. The Thomson Reuters global stock index (.TRXFLDGLPU) shed 0.8 percent. The Nikkei index has shed nearly 15 percent so far this year, compared to a 2.6 percent fall in the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index. The 9,000-9,100 range had been strong support for the benchmark Nikkei since last year. "Worries about the economy will not go away overnight, and investors will closely watch what measures emerge, including steps aimed at fending off a so-called double-dip recession in the US economy," said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc. The retreat in equities buoyed the yen to a fresh 15-year peak against the dollar and a nine-year peak against the euro after Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda made no comment on currency intervention. Noda said recent currency moves are clearly one-sided and that disorderly moves can be harmful to the stability of the economy and the financial system. The dollar fell as low as 84.34 yen on trading platform EBS, a fall of around 0.7 percent on the day, while the euro fell more than one per cent to around 106.35 yen on EBS. Against the dollar, the euro fell to a six-week low of $1.2614 on EBS. The scramble for less risky assets sent the 10-year and 30-year German Bund yields down more than 4 bps on the day to record lows at 2.214 per cent and 2.871 percent respectively. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields were down five bps on the day at 2.546 percent, hovering near 17-month lows close to 2.53 per cent struck last Friday. "It's hard to make a bearish case for bonds. That said, we're susceptible to a correction if the flow of headlines turns in any way more positive," said Sean Maloney, strategist at Nomura. Spot gold fell more than $2 to $1,221 an ounce after hitting a one-week low of $1,219.30, as falling equities prompted investors to sell bullion to cover losses, while a firmer dollar also put pressure on gold. Crude oil lost nearly a dollar at $72.20 a barrel, a seven-week low, as the dollar rose and the lackluster US driving season approached its end without triggering a seasonal stockpile drop.
